幸亏 (xìngkuī), 幸好 (xìnghǎo), and 还好 (háihǎo) mean "fortunately" or "luckily." They can be used to express that something has happened by chance, and has thereby enabled you to avoid some difficulty or bad luck. It is often followed with 不然 (which precedes the bad thing that could have happened).
Expressing Luck with 幸亏 and 幸好
It's as simple is adding 幸亏 or 幸好 before the thing that makes you feel lucky.
Structure
幸亏 / 幸好 + [Lucky Incident]（，+ 不然 ⋯⋯)
You can add in 不然 for an "otherwise... (this really bad thing would have happened)" explanation.
Examples
- 幸亏 我们 打 车 来 的 ，不然 就 迟到 了 。Xìngkuī wǒmen dǎchē lái de, bùrán jiù chídào le.Luckily, we came by taxi, otherwise we could have been late.
- 幸好 我 妈 没 看到 ，不然 她 肯定 要 生气 。Xìnghǎo wǒ mā méi kàndào, bùrán tā kěndìng yào shēngqì.It's a good thing that my mother didn't see it, otherwise she would definitely be mad.
- 幸亏 有 你 在 ，不然 我 不 知道 怎么办 。Xìngkuī nǐ zài, bùrán wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme bàn.Fortunately you're here, otherwise I don't know what to do.
- 幸好 带 伞 了 ，不然 要 淋湿 了 。Xìnghǎo dài sǎn le,bùrán yào línshī le.It's a good thing I brought the umbrella. Otherwise, I would have gotten soaked.
- 幸好 现在 问题 解决 了 ，不然 老板 肯定 要 炒 你 的 鱿鱼 。Xìnghǎo xiànzài wèntí jiějué le, bùrán lǎobǎn kěndìng yào chǎo nǐ de yóuyú.Luckily, the problem is solved now. Otherwise the boss is definitely going to fire you.
Expressing Luck with 还好
“还好” can also mean “fortunately,” but is more colloquial than 幸好 or 幸亏. And if you want to add in 不然 for an "otherwise... (this really bad thing would have happened)" explanation, use this structure:
Structure
还好 + [Lucky Incident]， 不然……
Examples
- 还好 我 没 听 他 的 话，不然 我 就 输 了。Hái hǎo wǒ méi tīng tā de huà,bùrán wǒ jiù shū le.It's a good thing I didn't listen to him, otherwise I would have lost the game.
- 还好 我 保存 了，不然 文件 都 丢 了。Hái hǎo wǒ bǎocún le, bùrán wénjiàn dōu diū le.Luckily I saved it, otherwise I would have lost all of the documents.
- 还好 我 买 得 少，不然 都 浪费 了。Hái hǎo mǎi de shǎo, bùrán dōu làngfèi le.Luckily I didn't buy a lot, otherwise it would be all wasted.
- 还好 老板 不 知道，不然 你 肯定 被 炒 鱿鱼。Hái hǎo lǎobǎn bù zhīdào, bùrán nǐ kěndìng bèi chǎo yóuyú.Luckily the boss doesn't know about it, otherwise you will definitely get fired.
- 还好 你 提醒 我，不然 我 肯定 忘 了。Hái hǎo nǐ tíxǐng wǒ, bùrán wǒ kěndìng wàng le.Luckily, you reminded me, otherwise I would have definitely forgotten.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
Dictionaries
Category:B1 grammar points